Research Theme

The Cambridge Neuroscience Community

Interests

Our current research is focused on uncovering the molecular mechanisms that cause proteins to misfold and aggregate in live model systems of Alzheimer’s Disease (AD) and Parkinson’s disease (PD). To enable this work we have developed a range of advanced optical imaging techniques that permit us to look at these processes with unprecedented detail.

Two recent developments are key for this research:

1) Amyloids develop an intrinsic fluorescence that reports on the aggregation state of neurotoxic proteins

This discovery has permitted us to design highly specific and quantitative in vivo sensors of amyloidogenesis (see Kaminski Schierle et al., 2011)

We were the first group able to visualise the morphology of aggregate species and their processing in situ in neuronal cells, at a resolution down to 10 nm (see Kaminski Schierle et al., 2011)

Strategy for an in vivo sensor of amyloid formation: In vivo sensing of amyloid nucleation and growth can be achieved by detecting fluorescence lifetime changes in extrinsic fluorophores acting as donors in a FRET like process, donating excitation energy to intrinsic energy states of amyloid structures. (Chan et al., 2013, in press).Click image to view full-size